Scott started the push to remove non-US citizens from voter rolls

TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s quest to identify and remove non-U.S. citizens from the voter rolls was started at the direct urging of Gov. Rick Scott, the state’s former top elections official said.

Ex-Secretary of State Kurt Browning, who resigned this year, told The Associated Press that Scott asked him whether or not non-U.S. citizens were registered and if those people were voting. Browning explained to the governor during a face-to-face meeting last year that people who register and falsely claim they are citizens can be charged with a crime.

“He says to me — well, people lie,” Browning recalled this week. “Yes, people do. But we have always had to err on the side of the voter.”

Browning said the conversation prompted state election officials to begin working to identify non-U.S. citizens. The state’s initial list — compiled by comparing driver’s licenses with voter registration data — showed that as many as 182,000 registered voters were eligible to be in the country but ineligible to vote.

But Browning said he decided against telling local election supervisors right away because he wanted to make sure the information was accurate in order to avoid a “firestorm of press” and criticism. Florida then spent months trying to get access to a federal database that tracks non-U.S. citizens in the country, but the U.S. Department of Homeland Security would not allow it.

“We were not confident enough about the information for this secretary to hang his hat on it,” said Browning, who resigned after the Jan. 31 presidential primary.

Browning said media reports earlier this year that raised questions whether non-U.S. citizens were on the rolls required the state to keep pushing ahead with the effort.

In the last few weeks, the state sent a list to county election supervisors of more than 2,600 people who have been identified as non-U.S. citizens. Supervisors have responded warily to the list and have pointed out that it has inaccuracies.

Seminole County Supervisor of Elections Mike Ertel went so far on Monday to put out on Twitter a picture of him holding a U.S. passport that belonged to one of the voters identified on the list.

Last week state officials announced that the Florida agency that handles driver’s licenses and does have access to the federal database would double-check the names on the state list.

Brian Burgess, a spokesman for Scott, did not have direct knowledge of the conversation between Browning and Scott. But he said the governor wants to make sure only eligible voters cast ballots.

“It’s the governor’s job to make sure the voter rolls are accurate, and I don’t know anyone who believes non-U.S. citizens should be allowed to vote,” Burgess said.

There are currently more than 11 million active registered voters in the state, but a few thousand votes could make the difference in what is expected to be a tight race between President Barack Obama and GOP presumptive nominee Mitt Romney. The 2000 election between George W. Bush and Al Gore was decided by just 537 votes in the Sunshine State.

Florida law requires voters to be U.S. citizens and live in the state. Florida also does not allow people to vote if they are convicted felons and have not had their civil rights restored.

While Browning said he wanted to double-check the information, he also said that local supervisors should be working with the state to make sure there aren’t ineligible voters on the rolls.

“The supervisors — all 67 of them — get ultimate control of who comes on and who comes off,” said Browning, the former elections supervisor for Pasco County. “If there are non-U.S. citizens on their rolls, then why aren’t they doing something about getting the non U.S. citizens off?”

Ertel, a Republican, said he agrees ineligible voters should be removed but questioned the accuracy of the list. He also said it was given to supervisors already in a time crunch because redistricting was forcing them to change precincts and district lines.

“If the list is so easily debunked, it should have been better vetted,” Ertel said.

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Boy did Governor Rick Scott nail it when he said “people lie”. I’m glad to see the state cleaning up the voter rolls. However a bit of research reveals that the consensus amongst many is that instances of voter fraud seem to be relatively few and far between. Conversely, what can’t be denied is that in the current climate gamesmanship and outright cheating runs rife amongst those with the most to gain/lose. That being stated, election fraud is a very real threat. That being the case, the charge that I’d really like to see Governor Scott, Secretary of State Ken Detzner, and all the rest of Governor Scott’s immediate cohorts lead is the charge to excise corrupt actors from the election process. Right now in Alachua County there is a proven criminally-corrupt judge—a judge by the name of David P. Kreider—that has been illegally entangled in Florida’s 2012 election process. The state is aware of this undeniable fact yet it has continued to improperly display a multi-dimensional lack of concern. The public and all law-abiding public servants should be aware of this as well.

See the below message (information was updated on 05/07/2012) for more insight into this matter. It was previously posted elsewhere but it is fitting that I share it here.

---------------------------------------------------

Next stop Gainesville, Fla. “Why specifically?”, you ask.

Because in Alachua County, within recent months, numerous and egregious violations of law have been committed that warrant multiple criminal prosecutions and other severe government sanctions. These crimes have had all types of deleterious effects including, but not limited to, once again placing the integrity of Florida’s election results (for 2012) in jeopardy. A few of the things that are central to this issue are:

1
David P. Kreider [Mr. Kreider, a proven criminal, is a corrupt Alachua County Court judge. This criminally-corrupt judge also happens to be both (a) one of the circuit's former prosecutors and (b) a former Division Chief for the State Attorney's Office.]

2
Robert Roundtree, Chief Judge for Florida’s 8th Judicial Circuit (he recently replaced the embattled Martha Lott who resigned from her chief judge post subsequent to becoming embroiled in this scandal which has started to implode; her resignation was announced on 04/09/2012 and was reported to have gone into effect on 04/05/2012)

6
The two irrefutable reports and extensive corroborating evidence that is in the possession of agencies, including those within Florida’s 8th Judicial Circuit (and the aforementioned Spencer Mann and Chief Judge’s office). The comprehensive reports and evidence span a total of more than 100 pages and in-depthly detail criminal activities carried out under the color of law by criminal/judge David P. Kreider and various other co-conspirators.

This is the gateway to serious corruption and a major cover-up attempt.

Note:

Inexplicably, at this critical time, the ability to update the completely truthful complaint that is displayed at the above listed initial complaints.com url has been blocked (this problem just arose in mid-May 2012). Complaints.com was notified in hopes that the issue would be remedied promptly (especially before the involved co-conspirators made any additional damaging/wrongful maneuvers or inappropriately benefited from the dissemination of any additional misinformation outside of scrutiny). For the most part, as of now (05/22/2012), to the best of my knowledge the report at the initial url is up-to-date and the involved co-conspirators haven't executed any additional illicit maneuvers that haven't already at least been touched upon in that initial complaints.com webpage complaint. On 05/19/2012 complaints.com indicated that it would no longer be possible to update the information at the well-publicized initial webpage/url and essentially that the complaint would have to be duplicated and that all future updates would have to me made at a new complaints.com webpage/url.

are not that rare an animal,, and usually get disbarred... i'm bothered by the fact that snowbirds or multiple residence owners from out of state are violating our election process as well !!! reciprocity is a wonderful tool,, that can be utilized to prevent out of state residents from voting in our elections here,, as well as their original home state !!! the state should utilize reciprocity a.s.a.p. to verify 1 registration in all 50 states to vote !!! personally i feel this is a bigger issue,, allowing some voters 2 ballots,,,>>>yathink

Interesting that errors have been found in the lists of "ineligible" voters.

Also interesting is that neither non-citizens voting nor snowbirds registered in multiple states will be prevented by the ALEC-written voting laws passed last year - which were passed despite NO evidence of any fraud of voting in someone else's name, voter registration fraud based on the application being turned in after 48 hours or extended early voting. And yet support for those laws by those who want their votes "to count" is high, completely dismissing the verified cases of citizens denied the right to vote because of those laws......or could be infringed for those listed as ineligible by the state in this latest tin-foil hat purge.

You make one post today, with no content except to repeat my last line? Interesting use of your time.

But just for you, because you seemed unsure last week that Sheriff Joe Arpiao is a birther:

"The development came the same day Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio defended sending one of his deputies to Hawaii to accompany an official in his volunteer posse that is investigating Obama's birth certificate, despite earlier saying no taxpayer money was being spent on the probe.

The sheriff said Tuesday that taxpayers won't ultimately foot the bill because the posse, which so far has used $40,000 in donations to pay for the probe, will reimburse his office for the deputy's trip to Hawaii this week.

Arpaio said the deputy who was sent to Hawaii was there for security reasons, which the sheriff declined to discuss.

"Even if it was costing the taxpayers money, we are talking about a criminal investigation into possible fraud and forgery on government documents," the sheriff said."